sure evidences of the presence of our God and Saviour in the midst of us, and the manifest tokens of His favour we have so largely enjoyed. When we came within these walls it was with a doubting and fearful heart. Knowing well the corruption of our own nature, and with sad experience of the readiness with which it goes forth in the doing of what is evil, we were discouraged by apprehensions that there might be realized, in the midst of our Assembly, scenes and measures of an unseemly and unsatisfactory character. To the praise of God's grace we are enabled to say, that it was very different. The gracious One who said unto his disciples of old, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you," was pleased to deal with us, so as, that instead of irritation and strivings, there was peace, and gentleness, and love. Each one seemed desirous to put off the old man with his deeds, and to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. For myself I can truly say, that I did not witness an angry countenance, or hear an unkind expression, during the whole course of this Assembly. The knowledge of those things is well calculated to stir up our minds to bless God and take courage. And when the tidings of them are carried to the dwellings of our dear people throughout the length and breadth of the land, they will cause joy and gladness in all their borders. We knew that they were devoutly engaged in pouring out their hearts before God in our behalf. Blessed be his name, that He giveth the answer of peace. Dear brethren, you are now to return to your separate flocks and sacred ministrations. I trust you have had much cause to bless God for his lovingkindness and mercy since you came here. You have enjoyed opportunities of taking sweet counsel with your brethren,-of being cheered and comforted with many sure tokens of the favour of God towards our Church, and of joining in the proceedings of an Assembly so well calculated to solemnize and sanctify, to elevate and strengthen, the hearts of all who belonged to it. In the strength of what you have seen and heard here, may you return to the scene of your manifold labours and troubles with your courage revived and your faith strengthened. Occupy until your Lord come, and you shall receive the crown of life. After the extended and exhausting labours in which we have been engaged in this Assembly, I feel that it would be unseasonable and improper for me to indulge in the desire of attempting any lengthened address at this time. In the few observations which I propose to offer, I shall have respect, as a directory, to the words of Paul with which I closed my address at the beginning of the Assembly. "Finally, brethren, farewell; be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind; live in peace, and the God of love and of peace shall be with you." In the case of all true believers the term brethren refers to a relation of a higher and holier character than any that belongs to our common nature. It implies that they are born again and become new creatures. They are the children of God by adoption and regeneration. If at the beginning of our meeting I pled for the dignity, and endearment, and influence of that relation, I would now urge more strongly the privileges and blessings that belong to it. These have been realized and illustrated in our own experience, during this season of companionship and co-operation, in such a way as should endear this relation to our hearts. Oh! it is a mighty advantage to be able to address each other with the tenderness of a brother's love, and the ardour of a brother's attachment. The Apostle, in his first use of these words, says-"Brethren, farewell." There is good reason to believe that the use of this term originated in principles of a pure and holy character, that it sprung from the love to our neighbour, which is second only to the love of God. In its more frequent use now, however, it has no reference to the one thing needful. It is but the carnal use of a spiritual term,—an echo or response to the cry, "Who will show us any good"-and a wish that that cry may be successful. But it was otherwise with the Apostle Paul. In his use of the term, it comprehended all that belongs to our wellbeing in time and throughout eternity. Such is our meaning and prayer when about to separate and part from you at this time. We know that your path of life is one of manifold duties, and difficulties, and trials. May the Lord be your guide and helper, granting to you all the temporal prosperity that He knows to be for your good, and especially that your souls may prosper and be in health. According to the ardent and abiding desire of your hearts, may the pleasure of the Lord prosper in your hands, that you may win many souls to Christ, who shall be to you for a crown of joy and rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus. In regard to the manner of prosecuting your labours among the people to whom you minister, let me venture to give a word of counsel and exhortation. While all the duties of the minsterial office are important and necessary, there is none to be compared with the preaching of the Word. This is the highest ordinance of God for the salvation of men. Your own minds will suggest to you the particular passages where this doctrine is set forth. What I have to recommend, then, is, that you would not lose sight of it in your ministrations. It is good to visit your flocks when occasion requires it. But if it should interfere with, or injure preparations for, the pulpit, it becomes an evil which you must guard against. The highest accomplishment of a Christian minister is to be mighty in the Scriptures, and to come forth from his deep study fraught with the blessed truths of God's Word. How can he otherwise feed the flock of which God hath made him the overseer? Among the many interesting and delightful objects with which this Assembly has been occupied, there is none more important and precious than the act of receiving our brethren of the Original Secession into full communion with our Church. To this blessed consummation the longing desires and fervent prayers of the godly throughout our land have been directed for many generations. Distance and discouragement could not repress or remove this desire; the hope of its attainment was in their visions by day and in their dreams by night, as an object most dear to their hearts. And now when it has pleased God to bring it to pass, and to realize this union in the midst of us, may we not take up the language of Israel of old and say,-" When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream, then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing, then said they among the heathen the Lord hath done great thing for them, the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad." This joyous event forms an era in the history of our Church. It has healed a grievous breach in the walls of Zion, and forms the crowning token of God's favour to our Asseinbly. Oh! that there were in us such a heart as would lead us truly to say, "Our soul doth magnify the Lord, for he that is mighty hath done great things, and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation." I would desire further, and in conclusion, to say with the Apostle,--"Finally, brethren, farewell." This language intimates that he had now delivered the sum and substance of what he had to say, and that it might be the last occasion when he should address them. Whether it was so with him or not, it is not of much importance to determine; but one thing is certain, that this language is suitable to the circumstances in which we are now placed. The Lord in his providence brought us together that we might be occupied for a season in his service; and there is now the assurance of a speedy, and in regard to many a final separation. Oh, how solemn is the consideration that our next meeting may be before the tribunal of the great Judge! Surely the prospect of such a scene is well fitted deeply to affect and influence our hearts. It should give point and promptitude to our exercises and ministrations. Dear Brethren,—I desire to improve this opportunity of renewing the expression of my warmest acknowledgments for your surpassing kindness to myself by placing me in this chair, and for all the affectionate forbearance that I have experienced at your hands. Surely it well becometh me to think of the closing scene that cannot be far distant from me. But, whether it come sooner or later, it shall find in my heart a lively recollection of your kindness, and a fervent attachment to the Free Church of Scotland. The Moderator concluded by dissolving the Assembly in the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, the alone King and Head of the Church; and appointed the next General Assembly to be holden at Edinburgh on the 19th day of May 1853. The Assembly was concluded by prayer, singing the last three verses of the 122d Psalm, and pronouncing the blessing. APPENDIX. ADDRESS to the QUEEN. To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty : May it please your Majesty,-We, your Majesty's most loyal and faithful subjects, the Ministers and Elders of the Free Church of Scotland, in General Assembly convened, animated by feelings of warm and unabated attachment to your Majesty's person and Government, approach the throne on the auspicious occasion commemorated by this your Majesty's birthday, with the united assurance of our grateful joy, that He, who is the author and preserver of life, is graciously pleased to continue to us and this country a monarch so deservedly beloved by all her subjects, so adorned by personal graces and excellencies, so encompassed by the social and domestic charities, and so ardently devoted to the promotion of the best interests of this great realm. Deeply sensible of the many inestimable advantages enjoyed by us under your Majesty's reign, it is our heartfelt desire that He, who is "the Prince of the kings of the earth," may long spare your Majesty as the guardian of those Protestant principles on which the British throne is founded, and of those civil and religious liberties which Constitute the hereditary and pre-eminent glory of this land, and for the continued possession of which, in all their amplitude and blessedness, our country, under God, is so largely indebted to the illustrious house from which your Majesty has sprung. Being assured by the infallible testimony of the revealed Word of God—“ That righteousness exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any people," it is not only our habitual prayer to God that your Majesty may reign over a free, a loyal, and a religious people, but our constant endeavour to commend to our flocks the ways of righteousness, and to warn them against all sin,-enforcing our exhortations alike by the terrors of the law and the allurements of the gospel. It is our earnest prayer now, and ever will be, that your Majesty may be surrounded with every temporal and spiritual blessing here, and be guided and upheld by a gracious Providence amid the cares of government and the trials of this life; and that your Majesty's Consort and Family may largely enjoy the light of the Divine countenance. That your Majesty, after a long and prosperous reign in this world, may, through grace, have an entrance ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is the earnest prayer of, May it please your Majesty, your Majesty's most dutiful, most obedient, and most loyal subjects, The Ministers and Elders of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. of the Free Church of Scotland, at Edinburgh, A. MAKELLAR, Moderator. ANSWER to the above. WHITEHALL, 1st June 1852. SIR,-I have had the honour to lay before the Queen, the loyal and dutiful Address of the Ministers and Elders of the Free Church, offering their cordial congratulations on the auspicious occasion of the return of Her Majesty's birthday. |